A completion or workover rig is used to do repair work on a well, such as tubing or pump replacement. When a workover rig is used to do repair work on a well, the rig must be able to pull weights near the rated capacity of the derrick of the rig, withstand high wind gusts, and otherwise be stably supported. Further, a workover rig should operate to its design capacity on a high frequency basis, and be highly mobile and self-contained.
A trend in workover rigs to maintain mobility and higher load capacities has been to use guy wires to stabilize the rig. The use of guys can significantly increase the rated capacity of the rig without changing the basic design.
However, there are drawbacks to a guy system. For example, guy wires need to be in specific locations for the stability and safe operation of the rig, and setup time is longer with a guy setup due to the specific locations. In addition, workover rigs typically tie off to permanent anchors set in the ground in a rectangular pattern around the well head. However, with the growing utilization of multi-well pads, it is nearly impossible to guy the workover rig to the anchors that were originally set in the ground when the well was drilled.
Solutions have been sought to solve the problem of a workover rig not being able to be supported by permanent anchors. One solution has been to utilize one or more base beams that are heavy, portable structures placed on the ground and to which the workover rig is guyed. Existing base beams have a relatively small footprint as well as set locations with which to attach guy wires, which makes set-up easier and faster.